Bath Time
by DepressingGreenie
Summary: Nightshade's cure for her werewolf serum did not work, it built itself back up in his system after a year. It never came back to its original extent, but now with every full moon Steve becomes CapWolf again. After such a night, Tony finds himself having to clean Steve up after one of his runs. [Can be read as friendship or Stony slash]


Tony sprinted down the hall to the cupboard, swearing under his breath. Rushing to get the large towels special pet-safe soap.

Today had been long and exhausting, the last thing he had wanted to hear was not only was it a full moon and Steve transformed again, but that he had escaped the Avengers property. He had went off to who knows where and came back filthy.

When he found out about what time it was he choked on his coffee. He had completely forgot the full moon was coming round again so soon. And okay, so maybe the same thing happens time each time, the full moon comes and he forgets what with all the work he has to do. But it was not like full moons happened in a predictable manner. Well they do, but it is never the same time each month. The full moon constantly changing what dates it falls on.

He could have planned for this. In fact he had been meaning to set up something with JARVIS. A two day warning and a warning at the beginning of the day. And limitations on what can be booked planning-wise for the day.

The normal training would be fine, that normally would tire Steve out to manageable levels. Press conferences like today, big no, they only wound him up. It probably no wonder that Steve ended up breaking out and running off. Wound up and antsy, coupled with the full moon, Steve would have been itching to do something, be somewhere.

Tony piles the towels into his arms and grabs the soap. "JARVIS!" he calls out. "JARVIS, inform the others that this is one of those nights. Standard operating procedures in place. Current level lockdown. Can't have Steve getting loose again"

"Will do, Sir. And if I may… I believe you have about 1-2 minutes before Captain Rogers decides he is done with his bath and moves on" JARVIS responds.

A loud mournful howl fills the otherwise quiet hall.

Tony speeds up his pace with a groan. It took so long to get Steve into the bath. Convincing him the crackling of the bubbles were not bad or not to be snapped at for the most part.

Left to his own devices Steve would have happily broken in through a window, curled up on his bed all covered in mud, muck and blood. And, if they were really 'lucky', with 'treasures' he has found on his crime fighting spree as a 8 foot werewolf.

He opens the door to the bathroom wearily.

Steve's head is resting against the side of the tub, big paws on each side. His ears flatten tighter against his head as he howls, making him look all the more downtrodden and lost. "Damn it, Rogers, it is just a bath".

Steve perks up at seeing Tony enter the room. He sits up in the tub looking about ready to jump out and bound over to him.

Tony quickly drops the towels on the sink counter and moves over to him, hands raised "No, no! No, no, no! Stay in the tub. You are still filthy"

Steve pulls back, sitting up straight, his height is very imposing. His ears flatten back down against his head and his lips twitch into a snarl. He does not go as far as to growl yet, but Tony know it is not far off. "You know pulling that on me won't work, buddy, we have been through this enough. Come on, relax. It will be over faster if you do. You know it will"

Tony shifts closer to Steve to get better access to his back. Steve lowers his head quietly. Taking this win and running with, Tony tries to make quick work of the messy golden fur. Pulling twigs and nots out with practiced care. Lathering up the sticky patches of blood and the I-probably-don't-want-to-knows. Gently combing his fingers though the fur before he gets the comb out. Steve is thankfully placid and docile, none of his usual pulling and whining. Tony lets out a relived sigh.

A huge wet nose pushes up against his neck and he forcefully reminds himself that the wet is not snot. Hot puffs of air waft over him as Steve sniffs his face. He pushes his hands against Steve's chest to send him away "Your breath stinks, Steve, come on. Enough."

Steve backs away but stares at him intensely. His tail begins to wag, sploshing heavenly in the tub and making a mess of water. Tony ignores him, best to get this done with and get Steve to bed.

He moves to soap him up for the final time to get rid of the last of the dirt. Steve however, it seems, is having none of it and snaps lightly at his hand "Steve, please".

Tony tries again and Steve jumps out of the way with a playful bark. "No games, Steve. Not no-" he is cut off when Steve jumps forward stopping just short of him, resulting in a large wave of water to hit him. He looks down at his now very soaked clothes. "Asshole" he says with a sigh. Steve's position screams 'ready to pounce', it was clear with his wildly wagging tail that he wanted to play. "You are not even sorry, are you?"

Steve answers with a loud bark. He then jumps around Tony's large bath, it was fairly obvious that Steve was purposely landing just right to get as much water on him as possible. So now, more than a little drenched he saw no problem with fighting back. "Oh, you have done it now, Steve."

Tony hopped into the bath keeping his stance low and steady to avoid slipping, and he pounced. He lunges at the huge man-wolf with a laugh.

* * *

Steve curls closer around Tony's body, his head resting on the genius' firm stomach. All the pitiful whining it took just to get Tony to stay and sleep by his side was worth it, just to make sure the man did actually get some sleep. And the game of chase in the tub too.

He knows how hard Tony works for Stark Industries and the Avengers, and he fully appreciates all he does. But he really wishes Tony could take more care of himself. He understands his drive to do more, be more… he is victim to that too. He knows how hard it can be. Which is why he always tries to make full use of his curse.

The lycanthropy Nightshade cursed him with felt like it would always be a burden he would have to bare the first couple of months. Banner for all the tests he ran could not work out how her poison bonded with the Super Soldier Serum and thus he had no cure. Not that Nightshade's cure worked either.

But nights like tonight when he is able to take Tony's focus off the world, to make him laugh and smile, to take away his burdens for even a few hours… that could never feel like anything but a curse. It also helped that he knew Tony always wished he had a dog when he was younger.

Steve silently wills his tail to stop wagging and closes his eyes, feeling pleased.

 ** _END_**


End file.
